


The Final Year

by ScilesMcCallinski



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 8th year, Eventual Drarry, F/M, I hope..., M/M, Mostly Fluff, Multi, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Some angst, i have no idea anymore, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 06:54:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13161618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScilesMcCallinski/pseuds/ScilesMcCallinski
Summary: *Post Battle AU*The Second Wizarding War is over. Lord Voldemort has been defeated. And Harry Potter is going back to Hogwarts along with his friends. He's hoping to finally have a normal year for once in his life. But will he?*PS: This is pretty much a Drarry story, I didn't want to give that away at the very beginning but if I don't then... I don't know, either way, there will be quite a lot of Drarry. Hope you enjoy! :D*





	1. One Last Journey On The Hogwarts Express

Harry took a deep breath as he opened his eyes. He couldn't help but smile when he took a step onto the Hogwarts Express, the train that held so many memories, both good and bad. 

"Harry?" Hermione stopped next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Looking around, Harry watched as people smiled and laughed, ran to hug their best friend who they hadn't seen all summer. He nodded and smiled at Hermione. "I've never been better."

Hermione still had a hint of concern in her eyes but it instantly disappeared when she heard someone speak from behind her.

"Hey, Harry," Ron pretended not to notice Hermione. "Have you seen my girlfriend? I can't seem to find her."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione turned around and slapped Ron's arm but smiled nonetheless. 

"Better watch what you say or you might end up not having a girlfriend at all." 

Ron's eyes widened as he looked at Hermione and stuttered as he tried to say that it was only a  joke. Harry smiled at his two best friends. He was happy they were together, he could always see that there was some sort of spark between them. 

But they could be a little bit... Hard to be around at times. And so Harry took this as his opportunity and backed away, moving further into the train.

Harry continued walking as he looked for an empty compartment. He couldn't stop smiling at everything and everyone around him. So many people had come back, whether it was to finish their education or simply because they wanted to see Hogwarts and all of their friends for one more year, Harry didn't care. He was just happy to finally be able to spend a year at Hogwarts with all of his friends and not be worried that someone was going to try and kill him. 

Harry eventually found a compartment and stepped inside, dragging his things along with him. As he attempted to lift his trunk, he heard a light knock and someone cough, trying to get his attention.

He turned around, expecting to see a lost first year but instead found himself face to face with Ginny Weasley. 

Grinning, Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny and pulled her in for a hug. 

"Gin! I haven't seen you in... What? Two hours?" Harry said as he pulled away.

Rolling her eyes, Ginny grinned back but played along. "Yeah, it's been too long, Harrykins! Where have you been?"

"Ginevra Molly Weasley..." Harry pretended to glare at her as she mockingly gasped. "Never call me that again."

"Please, what are you gonna do about it? I can call you whatever I like." Ginny said as she attempted to flip her hair and ended up smacking herself in the face.

They both burst into laughter causing the person in the compartment across from them to tell them to shut up. 

Harry gestured to the compartment he was in, inviting Ginny to sit down. She smiled and, very gracefully, flung herself onto the seats, resulting in her taking up the full row. 

Shaking his head, Harry grinned and put his trunk away then closed the compartment door. He sat down on the seat opposite Ginny and closest to the window.

He stared out the window, wondering when they would start moving before glancing at Ginny, trying to figure how to say what he wanted to. He began to speak but made sure to keep his voice low, afraid that someone walking past the compartment might hear him.

"Gin... About that conversation w-" 

"Stop." Ginny sighed and sat up. She smiled at Harry before speaking. "We already went over this, didn't we?"

Harry looked at his hands which were fidgeting in his lap. He didn't know why he was so worried. Ginny had already told him that it was okay. So why couldn't he just leave it at that? 

Ginny, realising how tense and anxious Harry was, got up and sat down next to him. She took one of his hands in hers and nudged him gently with her shoulder. 

"I promise you that I'm okay. And if you think I'm going to tell anyone what you told me, then you are very much underestimating my friendship skills." 

Harry chuckled but still didn't look up. He didn't want to look her in the eyes, he was too afraid that he would be able to see all of the things that he knew she must think about him. 

Ginny bit the inside of her cheek as she realised that Harry still didn't believe her. She knew she had to say it but it just felt like she was somehow betraying him even though they had broken up months ago.  

"Harry..." Ginny squeezed his hand slightly, hoping he would look up but to no avail. She sighed and took a deep breath. "Harry, it doesn't bother me that you're into guys, okay?"

Harry closed his eyes and rested his head on his hand. He really wished she would choose her words carefully, especially since she wasn't even  _trying_  to keep her voice down.

"It's the truth, okay? It doesn't bother me, in fact, it makes me happy. Happy because you're finally being who you really are. I always had a feeling you were never really interested in me in that way. But I knew you weren't using me or anything like that. I could see that you genuinely thought that you liked me. But I could also see when you realised you didn't. And I'm glad that you did realise that because now you are being yourself... Even if only to me. I still love you as a friend and I always will, Harry."

Finally, Harry lifted his head, just as a tear slipped down his cheek. Ginny quickly let go of his hand and pulled him into a hug. She sat there as he cried and gently rubbed his arm. Ginny knew that she was the only one that Harry had told. And so she knew how important it was for her to let him be himself around her. 

They sat in that position for a while, only moving when someone knocked on the compartment door. Harry quickly sat up and removed his glasses, wiping his eyes with his sleeves. Ginny glanced at Harry before standing up and opening the door. Her eyes widened but quickly narrowed as she took a step back and crossed her arms. 

"What do  _you_  want?" 

Harry looked at Ginny in confusion. He stood up and looked over her shoulder, trying to see who she was speaking to. He nudged Ginny lightly so that he was now standing beside her. 

Harry looked at the person. He couldn't stop his eyes from lingering a little too long on the person's hair and... Well, pretty much everything else. He was trying his hardest to not let on how very attracted to this person he was. Although, by the look on Ginny's face, he appeared to be failing. 

Ginny elbowed Harry in the side. He looked at her, not understanding why she seemed so confused and slightly mad. 

The person looked between Harry and Ginny before taking a step backwards. 

"Sorry, clearly this compartment is already occupied, I'll find somewhere else."

Harry's head moved so quickly, Ginny was surprised it didn't snap. His eyes narrowed as he grabbed the persons arm gently but stopped them from walking away. The person looked up, meeting Harry's eyes. They began to smirk as they noticed the confusion on his face.

"Potter, don't tell me you don't remember me."

Harry's eyes went completely wide as his mouth shot open. He tried to speak but ended up jumbling his words.

The person rolled their eyes but continued to smirk as they watched Harry look at Ginny for help. "Good to know you're still as much of an incoherent dork as you were before." 

Ginny sniggered but quickly tried to hide it behind a fake cough as Harry glared at her. 

"What?" The person raised an eyebrow at her. "What's so funny about what I said, Weaslette?"

Biting back an insult, Ginny smirked and shrugged. "Oh, nothing, it's just that the word 'dork' is usually used by people to show affection to the person they said it to but, hey, what do I know?" 

Ginny's smirk grew even wider when she saw the person turn a light shade of red and clench their jaw. They looked at Ginny then at Harry. They straightened up and coughed awkwardly. 

"I'll just be going then." They once again went to walk away but, for some reason unknown to all of them, Harry spoke. 

"Wait." 

The person turned around and pretended to look annoyed but Ginny could tell that they were glad. 

"What now, Potter?" 

Harry glanced at the person's eyes, his confusion returning. They looked so... different. Although, he was mas at himself for not realising who they were straight away. 

"Do you want to join us?"

Both Ginny's and the person's eyes widened as they stared at Harry who was clearly just as shocked as them. He silently cursed himself. Why in the name of Merlin did he just do that? It was too late for him to take it back but, strangely, Harry didn't want to. 

The person looked at Ginny warily. They wanted to say yes but wasn't going to if Ginny was going to glare at them the entire time. 

Eventually, Ginny smirked and gave a nod. She looked at Harry who had gone slightly pale and looked a little bit like he regretted every decision he had ever made. 

"Come on then, the train's already started moving if you hadn't already noticed."

Harry, brought back to reality, realised that she was right and wondered how long they had been standing there for. 

They all went inside the compartment, once again closing the door before sitting down. The person was the last to sit down and chose the seat furthest away from Harry and Ginny. 

Ginny noticed this and scoffed then rolled her eyes. "Jeez, you really haven't changed much, Malfoy... Well, except for the very obvious changes..." 

Draco raised an eyebrow at her but shifted a little so that he wasn't as close to the door as before. He didn't like that she thought he hadn't changed. He had. Or at least, he hoped he had.

"How did you even recognize me so quickly?" There was a hint of annoyance in Draco's voice as he spoke. He had been hoping that no one would recognize him  _at all_. He realised that was just wishful thinking. 

"Well, I'll admit, I didn't at first because of..." Ginny paused as she gestured to him." Well, y'know, the blue hair, the clothes and the piercing but there was just something about you that seemed very...  _You._ "

Draco touched his hair and smiled lightly. "Yeah, I guess I can't escape being me after all."

Harry frowned at Draco. "Why would you not want to be you, you're..." Harry quickly stopped talking as he realised what he had been about to say. 

"I think the words you're looking for are 'arrogant', 'pretentious', 'self-centred', 'a complete and utter arsehole', all of the things I wanted to  _not_  be..." Draco was looking at the ground, knowing that Harry and Ginny were probably about to start insulting him. 

He jumped when he felt someone sit next to him. As Draco looked up, he saw Harry hesitantly reach out his hand and put it on his shoulder. Harry took the fact that Draco hadn't moved away or snapped at him as a good sign. 

"Mal-... Draco," Harry felt Draco tense up when he said his first name. "You have changed and I don't just mean your appearance. I don't know how  _much_  you've changed but it's obvious that you have... Also, that blue hair really suits you." 

Draco tried not to smile but couldn't stop himself. He covered his face with hands, his face turning red. Harry looked at Ginny and they both smirked. 

"Look, Harry, you've made Malfoy blush!" Ginny bit back a laugh as Draco groaned into his hands.

Harry moved his hand from Draco's shoulder and picked up a strand of his hair. "Yeah, this is a really great colour on you, Draco." 

"Alright, alright." Draco lifted his head looked at Harry when he didn't remove his hand. "Pot-... Harry?"

Harry smirked but pulled his hand away. He suddenly remembered that before he had known who the person was, he had been thinking that they were attractive. He had thought that Draco Malfoy was attractive. 

Ginny watched Harry in concern as his eyes wide and he went pale. She waved her hand at him before moving closer to him. "Harry? What's wrong?"

Shaking his head, Harry blinked and grinned at Ginny. There was absolutely no way he was telling her what he had been thinking, especially not when Draco was right next to him. 

"Nothin, I'm okay." Harry said, hoping that she would drop it. 

Ginny's eyes narrowed in suspicion. She was about to ask again but Harry nudged her very gently, hoping that she would take the hint. Slowly, she nodded but once again began to smirk. She was pretty sure she knew what he had been thinking about. 

"Okay, well, I am going to go and find the trolley, I need food." Ginny stood up and walked to the compartment door. She winked at Harry before opening the door and leaving the compartment, making sure to close it behind her. 

Harry cursed her silently but grinned as he said, "What a bitch."

 


	2. Reintroductions

They spent pretty much the rest of the train ride like that, talking about the past year, what they did during summer, anything that came to mind really. 

Harry laughed as looked at Draco in disbelief. "No way, that's not possible. That's just too hilarious to be true."

Draco huffed but grinned at him, "Well, it is."

"What is?" Ginny had chosen that moment to return to the compartment, her arms filled with chocolate, sweets and drinks.

"Draco was just telling me that his mother bought him a ferret," Harry said, his voice shaking slightly from laughter.

"No way," Ginny grinned at Draco who nodded and chuckled. "Please say it's white."

Draco grimaced but continued grinning. "Unfortunately, yes."

Harry and Ginny both began laughing as the latter sat down, setting the food next to her. Never would they have thought that they would be laughing with Draco Malfoy of all people. But then again, a lot of things had happened in the past year that nobody would.

Once the laughter had died down, they went straight back to talking, only to be interrupted almost immediately by the compartment door being opened. 

"Harry! There you are," Hermione paused in the doorway as she glanced at the other occupants. "Ron and I have been looking everywhere for you, you just disappeared."

Harry winced at her accusatory tone but sent her a small, apologetic smile. "Sorry, 'Mione, I just..." he looked at Ginny, silently pleading for her to help him which she ignored with a smirk. "I thought you and Ron might want to have a few minutes to yourself?"

Draco and Ginny both snorted but quickly disguised them as coughs, receiving a glare from Hermione and Harry. 

"I would accept that as a reasonable excuse if it had only been a few minutes," Hermione said, her arms crossed. "Or if you had at least told us you were ditching us."

"'Mione," Harry paused, trying to think of something that wouldn't get him scolded by the younger woman. "I'm sorry, okay?"

Hermione's annoyance dissipated at the pleading tone in his voice. She once again glanced at the other two people in the compartment, her eyes stopping on Draco. She sent him a smile and held out her hand. "I'm Hermione Granger."

They all looked at her in surprise, having expected her to recognise him immediately. Draco blinked but stood up and shook her hand while giving her a small smile that quickly faded as he tensed and became anxious. "We've already met."

Hermione looked at him, her head tilted slightly to the side as she raised her eyebrows. "We have?"

"Yeah, in our first year actually." Draco swallowed nervously, his hand dropping to his side as he waited for the moment when she would recognise him and her eyes would turn cold and she would stare at him disgust. "I guess I do look a bit different now though."

Hermione just looked more confused than before as she looked to Harry and Ginny. She thought he had seemed familiar but she just couldn't figure out why. 

Harry, noticing her confusion and Draco's anxiousness, stood up and took a small step forward, "Hermione, it's Draco."

The compartment was suddenly filled with a tense silence, nobody quite sure what to say. Hermione was now staring at Draco intensely as if trying to prove that Harry was wrong and that the man in front of her was not Draco Malfoy. But she seemed to come to the conclusion that Harry was not lying. Her hand flew to her mouth, her eye's wide. "I'm so sorry."

Draco's head snapped up, his eyebrows raised as high as they would go. "W-What?"

Hermione turned red and covered her face, mumbling into her hands, "I can't believe I didn't recognise you, I'm so embarrassed."

Draco turned his head to look at Harry, eyes wide in alarm. He turned back to Hermione when Harry shrugged, looking just as lost as him. Slowly, he placed a hand on her arm. "I-It's okay if anyone should be apologising it should be me."

Hermione moved her hands and gave him a tight but sympathetic smile, "You don't have to apologise to me, the past is in the past, I've moved on from it."

Draco lips quirked up into a grateful smile and squeezed her arm lightly before removing it and turning back to Harry and Ginny, a pained expression on his face. "Weasley's still going to kill me though, isn't he?"

"Not if he doesn't recognise you," Ginny joked, trying to lighten the mood back up. "Just don't tell him you're you and you'll be fine."

Everyone laughed at that, glad to be back to a more relaxed atmosphere. 

"I actually need to go find Ron," Hermione turned to Harry, "I told him if I found you I'd drag you back with me."

Harry rolled his eyes but grinned. "Or you could just leave me here and drag Ron to us?"

"Yeah, that works better." Hermione smiled and walked out of the compartment, closing the door behind her. 

The three remaining inside the compartment sat back down and continued talking, waiting for Hermione to return with Ron and hoping that it wouldn't go as badly as they were expecting it to.


End file.
